Raygun Cowboys ride the lightning
Going to a Raygun Cowboys concert is like being transported to the world of The Outsiders, in between the Greasers and the Socs – except no one gets hurt in the mosh pit. There are other guarantees from this colourful local psychobilly band – fun, laughter, dancing until your feet hurt, and a strong sense […]
REVIEW: Vance Joy to the World
If you would’ve told Vance Joy 10 years ago that he’d be playing Canadian hockey arenas one day, he would’ve said you were crackers. Because he’s Australian. “Crackers” is exactly the word he would use. It means crazy. But there he was at Rogers Place on Wednesday night – another worthy folk singer-turned-pop star playing […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: No Problem amps up doom
Edmonton’s punk rock pride No Problem have always been a bit dark – and in these dark times, what do you do but literally amp it up? The band’s new album Let God Sort Em Out – their seventh since 2010 – is a bold work filled with raging punk rockers interspersed with spooky bookends […]
Into the Woods: The end justifies the beans
From The Princess Bride to a little piece of cinema called Frozen, we have seen a proliferation of musicals about storybook characters – none more effective and long-lasting than Into the Woods, the 1987 Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine effort at unpacking modern moral lessons in the stories of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding […]
Forever Plaid celebrates rock history that never was
On the evening of February 9, 1964, after months rehearsing in their parents’ basements, the vocal quartet The Plaids set out for their first concert at the Airport Hilton’s Fusel Lounge. They never made it. A bus filled with Catholic schoolgirls ran full-tilt into their car and ended their dreams of success – also their […]
Does Edmonton need The Station?
Earlier this week it was announced that live music would finally be back on stage at the location of the former Needle Vinyl Tavern on Jasper Avenue, but under new owners – led by Greg Scott – and under a new brand – The Station on Jasper. Given the catastrophic and rapid demise of the […]
This is not your father’s Hamlet
Hamlet is Shakespeare’s longest play, over four hours in length. The play, in the Heritage Tent in Hawrelak Park as part of the Freewill Shakespeare Festival until July 15, has been slimmed down to a sharpened two and a half hours (with intermission). Fortunately for us, the company has filled that time with a focused, […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Steep Canyon Rangers ride on
Saturday night the Steep Canyon Rangers are in town at the Jubilee Auditorium – but its most famous member Steve Martin won’t be with them. This North Carolina bluegrass band recorded and released an album with the legendary comedian (who also turns out to be a pretty fair bluegrass musician) back in 2010 after backing […]
REVIEW: Comedy of Errors a masterclass of mayhem
The Freewill Players launch their 35th outdoor season in Hawrelak Park this year with one of Shakespeare’s earliest and funniest plays, Comedy of Errors. It’s hard to imagine a better show for a spring evening than this venerable confection – an entertaining show as light as a breeze across Hawrelak Lake. It is, by the […]
INTERVIEW: Eamon McGrath imagines ‘Maritime Gothic’
It’s tempting to think that This Town Dies When Festival Season Ends is a song about Edmonton – seeing as songwriter Eamon McGrath was born and raised here. You probably think this song is about you, don’t you? But it’s not. We think we have it bad; take a trip to a typical town in […]